Flash floods hit several areas in western Singapore

SINGAPORE — Heavy rain triggered flash floods in many areas in the west this morning (Sept 4), closing a section of the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). The floods had subsided by 9.48am, according to the PUB. Motorists travelling towards town on the AYE encountered massive congestion before Clementi, with electronic road signs announcing that the three-lane expressway was closed after the Clementi exit. The PUB said that drains overflowed at the AYE due to the intense rainfall and rising tide, with flood waters reaching a depth of half a metre, and subsided within 40 minutes. All four lanes of AYE towards ECP were closed to traffic during the flood. The PUB said in a statement issued in the afternoon that the downpour over the central and western parts of Singapore began at 8.15am and ended around 9.30am. The heaviest rainfall was recorded at Kent Ridge with a rainfall of 102.8mm from 8.10am to 9.40am. It peaked between 8.15am to 8.50am, with a rainfall of 82.2mm. TODAY readers sent in pictures of a flooded Kent Ridge MRT station and reported waters at the National University of Singapore campus reaching knee-deep levels at the science faculty blocks on Lower Kent Ridge Road, near the National University Hospital (NUH). Other reports said that waters were only ankle deep at the engineering faculty near Clementi Road, on slighly higher ground. On Dunearn Road, a tree fell on two cars, blocking traffic to all vehicles except for motorcycles. Some of the worst floods were reported in the Commonwealth area, with reader Mohamad Hadir sending us a photograph of the interior of a car flooded up to near the steering wheel. In its statement, the PUB said that flash floods were reported on the AYE at the 9.6km mark, towards the East Coast Parkway (ECP); on Commonwealth Avenue, Commonwealth Lane and Commonwealth Drive; the junction of South Bridge Road and Maxwell Road in Chinatown; the junction of Cuscaden Road and Tomlinson Road near Tanglin Mall; on Alexandra Road towards Lower Delta Road (near Ganges Avenue); and Lorong Kismis near Jalan Jurong Kechil. The PUB said it has plans to upgrade Sungei Pandan Kechil, which serves this section of the AYE near the NUS High School. Sungei Pandan Kechil connects to Pandan Reservoir. For Commonwealth Avenue, the PUB has scheduled drainage improvement works, which will commence in the fourth quarter of this year and are expected to be completed by first half of 2015. The PUB added that it advises the public to exercise caution as flash floods may occur in the event of heavy storms.